Girls soccer suffers loss to Downingtown East

At 10 a.m. on Oct. 17, Conestoga and Downingtown East fans filled the stands at Teamer Field in the bitter cold to watch the girls’ varsity soccer game, a match that is somewhat dreaded throughout the season. The Downingtown East team is one of ’Stoga’s hardest matches of the central league. And to the surprise of the team and fans, Conestoga lost 0-2.

“I think that going into (the game), we weren’t sure since we knew they had gotten progressively better through the season, but we always go into every game expecting to get a win out of it,” senior captain Alice Regan said.

The game started out with a bang from both teams. Emily Maneri and Rachel DiRico made great plays, taking the ball up the field for numerous shots on goal. ’Stoga’s senior goal keeper Jules Horning made incredible saves in the first half as well, and made punts that traveled to the other side of the field. As half time approached, the team was excited—the score was neutral and both teams played solidly.

Within the first ten minutes of the second half, Downingtown East got a breakaway on the left side of the field and took a shot. The ball slipped past Horning and her fellow defense, flying into the cage.

“We should have come out a little tougher. I think we were a little too high spirited for the scoring being 0-0,” Regan said.

The forward line came back after the lucky shot and pushed the ball into Downingtown’s circle. Freshman Nia Scott took numerous shots to goal, before Downingtown took the ball back to ’Stoga’s side. With twenty minutes left of the second half, Downingtown shot the ball down from the right side and scored a goal.

“The offense and midfield played well. They were able to secure us six corners and kept Downingtown guessing,” varsity coach Meghan Brogan said.

With tough calls from the referees, ’Stoga was unable to score a goal after Downingtown’s second shot.

“We played well, we created opportunities, but unfortunately, we were unable to finish them,” Brogan said.